Discrimination

The only color that should matter to any broker.


I once heard about this developer at a town hall meeting discussing a new building. This unnamed community was occupied by a demographic that was primarily Caucasian and wanted it to keep that way. During the meeting, they stated that they desired that the new development did not attract “those people.”

The developers response was “You mean the (derogatory term for Latinos?)”
From what I understand the reaction of the community members was well straight out of a scene from “Blazing Saddles”



After the meeting one of the community members realized something was off and went up to talk to the developer.

He asked “Your Latino aren’t you?”:

The developer responded with a devilish grin

“Yup.”

To this day the developer still has no idea who “those people” are.

I bring up this story because of the recent article in the New York Times about hard questions broker’s can’t ask.

Redlining, steerage and all those nasty things associated with discrimination in real estate were covered in the law class of the real estate school. The instructor of that class, who was a lawyer, made it clear that DOS has special undercover units that go out in the field and pose as buyers. Armed with hidden microphones and video cameras, they record whatever a broker says while posing as couples. If the agent says or does anything discriminatory then they are going to be hearing their words be replayed before their licenses are suspended.

The fact is that people are going desire to live in areas that they are demographically comfortable with. However, it is the challenge of a broker to determine that without appearing discriminatory. Often a buyer has to present that information on their own.

I had a client once who was looking for something hip and cool downtown. So I proceeded to show him apartments in the west village. When we hit Christopher street, he informed me that he was gay but he had no desire to live in an area that was solely associated with his sexual identity. So I took him to Soho and found him a nice place in little Italy.

His sexual orientation was none of my business but he felt it was important to mention to me in order to help him find an apartment. And I am glad he did because I was able to narrow down his preferences.

The worst thing a broker can do is make assumptions about the preferences of where a buyer wants to live. I met this Chinese woman who moved her family to a racially mixed part of Long Island rather than an area heavily populated by Chinese people. Both her and her husband wanted their kids to be exposed to other cultures, also as she put it, Chinese people gossiped too much.

I personally do not feel comfortable living in a town without at least one Synagogue. If any of you were to ever meet me, you would find that quite surprising.
But what do you expect? Human beings are funny quirky beasts that have particular habits and needs that need to be fulfilled. Which of course doesn't make it any easier for brokers. Below are some points of the article I found interesting.


WHAT kind of people live in this building?”
That is often the first question brokers are asked by apartment hunters — be they couples with children, retirees seeking peace and quiet or 20-somethings prone to the occasional raucous party.
But in recent months, thousands of brokers have learned that in answering that question, they might just be breaking the law. Many real estate ads, for instance, use “family friendly” to describe large apartments. But according to a strict interpretation of federal, state and local fair-housing laws, that is illegal.
“If a family with children wants to know if there are other children the same age in a building, we’re supposed to say, ‘You should stand outside the building between 2 and 5 p.m. and see who walks in,’ ” said Michele Kleier, the president of Gumley Haft Kleier. “But how do you say something like that with a straight face?”

Whenever I was confronted with that question my response would be "A good mix of people." Then I would leave at that. But it appears nowadays that might be the wrong answer.


Lawyers also warn against listing specific school districts and using catchphrases like “great for families,” “nanny’s room,” “quality neighborhood” and “senior housing.”
The strict interpretation of fair-housing laws prohibits brokers from providing information about people that could be construed as discriminatory in any of 14 protected categories. The categories include familiar ones like race, religion, sex and disabilities and less well-known ones like familial status, marital status, citizenship and occupation.

Lawyers also warn against listing specific school districts and using catchphrases like “great for families,” “nanny’s room,” “quality neighborhood” and “senior housing.”
The strict interpretation of fair-housing laws prohibits brokers from providing information about people that could be construed as discriminatory in any of 14 protected categories. The categories include familiar ones like race, religion, sex and disabilities and less well-known ones like familial status, marital status, citizenship and occupation.

Now this is going to really piss off a lot buyers because they are not going to be able to get the proper information they need which will require them to actually contact the broker in question and even have to visit the apartment themselves. However, this might be to the advantage of the broker because it will give the opportunity to build a genuine rapport with the buyer

Mr. Garfinkel goes on to warn brokers that they should not identify the school districts where apartments are located. This, despite the fact that real estate ads often boast that an address is zoned for top-rated schools like P.S. 6 on the Upper East Side or P.S. 234 in TriBeCa.

A similar situation happened to me but it had to do with a listing in Westchester. I was talking to a broker about a house in that area.and then I asked about the school district. She immediately clammed up and claimed no knowledge and hung up. It left me puzzled until I spoke to real estate lawyer who told the topic of school districts was becoming a forbidden.


The brokers were in for some surprises. Mr. Garfinkel explained that to follow the city law regarding occupations, they should not ask people what they do for a living. “I think that blew everybody’s mind,” Mr. James said. “I don’t think we’ve recovered from that yet.”
The question is natural in the course of any getting-to-know-you conversation, Mr. James said, “but the point is what’s normal and everyday may not be legal.”
Mr. Garfinkel said that the occupation protection is often referred to as “the attorney law,” because it is meant to stop buildings from discriminating against lawyers — some buildings fear that they will be litigious and consequently bad neighbors.

Okay. This law was definitely written up by a lawyer. And unfortunately this type of discrimination does occur to lawyers. I know of one lawyer that when renting an apartment would leave out their occupation till the last minute. Unfortunately, for a broker to properly do their job, the buyer's occupation has to known. A broker needs to know what that person does for a living because it will play a huge factor in their purchase. For instance, if a client does sales, most likely the client will be compensated through commission. This might not go well for a landlord since they are looking for someone with a steady stream of income. So the broker will have to convince the client to get a guarantor.

Unfortunately, acts of discrimination do occur in the brokerage industry, however the fact that brokers are more willing to take preventive steps to discourage discrimination, intentional or otherwise, shows how serious the industry takes these issues.